Tanvir Juneja
Manchester United has kicked off the brand new season in style and seems as though the last three league campaigns under Moyes and LVG respectively were a serendipitous build-up staged by the gods to have their chosen one crowned English Premier League glory yet again but this time wearing the red colour of the Theatre of Dreams. With 3 wins out of 3 already under Mourinho, the Red Devils have indeed had the best start in some years. After acquiring some ginormous superstars in Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Paul Pogba, Eric Bailly and Henrikh Mkhitaryan, the Portuguese manager still doesn’t seem to have quenched his thirst of landing some more elite contracts using his might in the global reach of the sport.
Having previously had informal talks of wanting Raphael Varane and Leonardo Bonucci from Real Madrid and Juventus respectively, there remains only an iota of a possibility that both the deals get realized. But since Manchester United exude supreme confidence whilst expressing a real sense of purpose under accomplished manager Mourinho this season, it wouldn’t hurt either Varane or Bonucci to receive decent offers from a club that has the biggest fan base in the world.
Moreover, a certain move to Manchester would add to both these centre backs’ CVs as neither have played in the Premier League before. When it comes to picking an outright favourite, it is a difficult call as only age and experience separates the two defenders as Varane is only 23 as compared to a 29-year-old Bonucci who has had more caps for Juventus as well as won several international honours in the Italian shirt. Otherwise, their playing positions among physical factors are identical as both are 6′ 3” tall and almost weigh the same.
However, their tactical and strategic strengths vary significantly since Bonucci has a typical Italian school of defensive depth style of technique whereas Varane plays the role of an aggressive centre back who makes long runs up and down the pitch playing for the Galacticos of Real Madrid.
As far as United fans are concerned, the debate as to who would be a more ideal signing befitting the current squad at Old Trafford sits in the balance which is contrary to opinions of most of the critics who chart out statistical data to compare the profiles of both the defenders who play in leagues way different from each other in terms of the pace of the game as well as the competition.
The reports from Manchester suggest that boss Mourinho wouldn’t be able to clinch a big defensive target until he sells one first in order to launch a fancy bid. Also, it has been reported that Varane is said to have already turned down a move to Manchester over informal talks while the Juve ace is happy to play in the Serie A. So much for floating transfer rumours and discussing potential futures at Old Trafford to satisfy the anxiety of intrigued fanfare surrounding football tabloids.
The frenzy around this debate of who could be a better signing for Mourinho shouldn’t last longer than it already has because of what both the interested parties have had to say about moving to Manchester. There still are hopes if and only if Real Madrid and Juventus could see far-reaching consequences of benefitting from the proposals Manchester United are likely to send across that is again in case Mourinho happens to sell a defender first that we could reach a consensus to this debate.
As for now, French international Raphael Varane seems a stronger contender to fit in at a role of a centre-back in a highly dynamic 4-2-3-1 Manchester United formation which requires absolute ball control and great clearing skills off the back line. The Real Madrid defender’s technique is the reason he is more ideal than Bonucci and on the physical front too, he is stronger and much faster than Juventus’ ace who is known more for his defensive attributes like his vision, accurate passing and a threat in the air from his headers. But again, in the given context, Varane is a more ideal signing because the Red Devils have Ibra, Pogba and the likes of Martial to do the damage from their headers per se.
